Monday, April 12, 2010

#1) If mainstream medicine really worked, then drug companies wouldn't have to commit scientific fraud to fake their clinical trials, would they?

#2) If mainstream medicine really worked, then doctors, drugs companies and the FDA wouldn't be afraid of competition from nutritional supplements and natural remedies, and they wouldn't keep trying to censor or outlaw those natural remedies.

#3) If mainstream medicine really worked, drug companies would gladly test their drugs side-by-side with nutritional remedies to see what works best.

#4) If mainstream medicine really worked, health insurance costs would be extremely low. The only reason health insurance costs so much is because mainstream medicine doesn't cure anybody, and patients stay sick, which costs more money to keep treating!

#5) If mainstream medicine really worked, then all the other countries in the world would be looking at the U.S. health care system and saying, "Wow, we want THAT!"

#6) If mainstream medicine really worked, drug companies would be out of business because virtually everybody would be healthy and therefore not need drugs on an ongoing basis.

#7) If mainstream medicine really worked, doctors would largely put themselves out of business by teaching patients how to take care of their own health.

#8) If mainstream medicine really worked, drug companies like Johnson & Johnson wouldn't have to pay kickbacks (bribes) to nursing homes to entice them to push more of their drugs onto helpless senior citizens.

#9) If mainstream medicine really worked, the treatment of teenagers with chemotherapy wouldn't have to be enforced by court order with the threat of arrest and imprisonment of the parents (as happens in the U.S. today).

#10) If mainstream medicine really worked, drug companies wouldn't need to advertise on television to persuade people to take drugs they don't need.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Recently, I saw a slogan, "Aloe, the Lily of the Desert." I don't know about that, aside from the play on Lily of the Valley.

Aloe grows well in Florida, where I live. I sometimes harvest some from my yard when needed as a natural first aid.

Let's call it an herb. There are many people that use of aloe to help them for many reasons. From the interior of the leaf of aloe, we get a gel that is naturally lubricating and healing. This gel is part of the aloe plant that is typically and topically used in many treatments.

Some day-to-day treatments include:

burns

wounds

sunburn

herpes

psoriasis

skin irritation

and all without any unpleasant side effects.

There are many internal uses for aloe too. People use it to help with ulcers, diabetes, Crohn's disease, and constipation. Many find that results start to appear in a quickly.

You can see how you may benefit from aloe and having aloe plants in your home. They are vigorous in growth, and require little care.

Aloe has been known to make skin healthier as well. There are many lotions and creams that have aloe already in them. You can pick these items up at your local store and use them as directed. My favorite is 100% aloe. I can get the same thing from my yard, but having it on hand, ready to use, is convenient.

I've read that some people that are allergic to aloe. I find that hard to believe, but, if you see any type of rash or problem start, you should discontinue your use. These problems are not very common.

I simply think of it as a first aid remedy. When I have problem that could respond to aloe, I get it immediately. I just believe there is no harm in it, and a lot of potential help.

Monday, February 15, 2010

We all want the nutritional silver bullet. We want that one supplement that will solve all our nutritional concerns.

I believe that accounts for the emerging popularity of single foods to take care of a health problem. The most widespread [pun warning] concern is overweight. That one problem attracts more one food solutions than any other.

The most extreme form of this obsession is the monodiet. This means you eat only one food for a short period of time. And short is the governing principle here.

The grapefruit diet, the watermelon diet, the grape cure...any of these sound familiar?

No one expects to be on one food for a long period of time. It's just a temporary expedient to achieve a short term goal.

That's why I question the philosophy of one superfood to take care of everything. Or even to handle a particular problem on an ongoing basis.

I believe there is a saturation effect. Sure, you may get a boost in the short term. but, after a while, the inherent imbalance in your diet and metabolism will catch up with you.

The Açai Berry

This açai berry is one of the marvels discovered in the Amazon rainforest. Having a featured role on Oprah has launched it into orbit.Marketed as a weight loss product, it has more to offer.

The ideal processing of the berries uses the same low temperature drying that other superfoods have in preparing them for market. Liquifying it means some form of pasturization. And that means goodby enzymes.

There are supplements like Nuriche that have açai in them along with other beneficial superfoods. That makes sense to me. A balanced supplement of an array of superfoods will not throw you off balance and set up a dangerous situation.

Common sense, for me, means adopting a program that you can live with.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

At the Spring time of year in Palm Harbor, the oak trees are in full battle cry. People speak of pollen and sinus, signified by sigh-ness.

I saw a micro photo of oak pollen. The working end of the medieval weapon called the morning star had nothing on the dangerous look of this little beast.

You can well imagine how this spiky marvel of the oak tree can irritate sensitive membranes. And yet, many people are oblivious to this pollen. And, yes, I am among their number.

Two people told me recently of the sinus challenge presented by this oak pollen. I told them the story of my student Jeannie Horrell. She is Gary Horrell’s mom.

Gary did the video for The Money Tunes, and some other productions. Included is his cut of the Orange Blossom Special on YouTube that I did with the Green Grass Boys. There are links to these on his YouTube site where he documents Florida Folk on video.

When Jeannie talked about her sinus problems from oak pollen, I simply recounted what I’ve heard. “Taking bee pollen acts as an inoculation against tree pollen.”

Bee pollen is one of my favorite superfoods. It’s easy to take. I like the taste of it.

Not all health food nuts like bee pollen. We who do are a minority of a minority.

I was drawn to it because of all the superfoods that I knew of at the time, it was tasty and easy to find. I was informed when I started that bee pollen is a good source of minerals, including trace minerals.

Bee pollen also has analogs of hormones that help balance the endocrine system, or so I have read.

It’s been a regular part of my diet for decades. Nowadays, several times a week, not every day.

And, finally, it’s inexpensive. This would not be so if bee pollen was popular. If the 4% of the population who shop at health food stores all got bee pollen, the price would take off like a rocket.

Recommending bee pollen to Jeannie was natural for me. She took the effort to get some at a health food store.

At the next fiddle lesson she told me that it really made a difference with her sinuses. It was a big improvement.

Friday, February 5, 2010

The Food Revolution is now upon us. We have come full circle. Starting from family farms and back yard gardens, we first evolved to the Green Revolution.

Who remembers the Green Revolution? It wasn’t a revolution in the sense of the lower overthrowing the higher. It was really a further concentration of wealth and control from the hands of the many to the fists of the few.

Pushed by Big Ag chemical fertilizer and pesticides, we found ourselves supplied with food by factory farms. The torch of questionable progress is now held by GMO seeds, “Frankenseeds.” These are produced by the same companies.

If we collectively fall for this one, the game is over. It’s totally rigged with a complete lack of ethics.

The good news is the Food Revolution, as written about by Janet K. Keeler of the St. Petersburg Times in her article, Who’s Who in the Food Revolution.

She tells us that folks are choosing to work their own gardens. People are buying more produce grown locally, much of it organically grown.

Friday, January 15, 2010

I've always thought of superfoods as those whole foods that are very high in bioavailable nutrients.

Another way to say it is, you can live on superfoods.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that some may believe confers health benefits as a result. For example, blueberries are often considered a superfood (or superfruit) because they contain significant amounts of antioxidants, anthocyanins, vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber. [1] However, the term is not in common currency amongst dieticians and nutritional scientists, many of whom dispute the claims made that consuming particular foodstuffs can have a health benefit[2] There is no legal definition of the term and it has been alleged that this has led to it being over-used as a marketing tool.[3]

That's what I call faint praise indeed. I suspect that the definition was shaped by Big Ag and the Pharmaceutical Industry.

The purpose of their definition is to invalidate or cast doubt. I don't know if that is really a fair approach.

Here is what Graci and Diamond, authors of The Power of Superfoods say:

Superfood the most nutrient-rich and completely absorbable food in any classification of protein, carbohydrates, fat or fiber;

About Elan

If you think of me as a fiddler, that's close enough. I'm determined to think that I am soul. Not easy.
I like to cook nutritious meals that are tasty. Then, eat.
This spring I continued pruning back my jungle.